Persistence
by Kathrine
Summary: Beast Wars drabble set, Silverbolt/Blackarachnia.  Thirty smiles shared between our favorite star-crossed lovers in no particular order.
1. Crazy

Crazy

"If I am glitched, it is because I am glitched from love for you," he declares one evening. She gives him an incredulous look (and really, _how_ does he keep finding her?) as she carefully adjusts the array she's building. (She's fairly sure he's supposed to be stopping her, but he's not very good at following orders like that. Lucky her.)

"That doesn't even make _sense_," she says, but she can't seem to suppress the smile that is twitching upwards. He catches it and returns it tenfold, his entire countenance brighter than the moon hanging heavy in the night sky.

* * *

**A/N:** 100 words; written for the prompt 'Crazy' from the old 30_smiles LJ community. (The old comm is gone now, but I came across the prompt list saved on to my HD and decided to give it a shot.)


	2. Cold body

**Cold body**

She is dreaming.

His body lies cold in her arms with the parody of a smile frozen on his lips. She shakes him and shouts at him but his spark is gone, never to return. _It is mine!_ she wants to scream, _you gave it to me!_ but all she can manage is a dreadful keen that goes on without end.

She wakes and reaches for him. His body is warm beside her and she hates herself for her weakness even as she rests her helm on his torso plate to hear the comforting thrum of his spark pulsing within.

* * *

**A/N:** 100 words, written for the prompt 'cold body'.


	3. Skylines

**Skylines**

He writes her name across the sky one day in soft puffy clouds of exhaust; large white glyphs against the unending blue of the sky.

"Great," she huffs as he lands before her with a proud grin, "you've just broadcasted our location to every Predacon within range. Good job, Jo-Jo."

His reaction is almost comical as he regards her with wide, sparkful eyes and drooping ears. She tells herself to be strong; his puppy-optics have no effect on her.

Oh, who is she kidding? "I guess I was getting bored anyways," she allows and he immediately bounces back, tail a-wagging.

* * *

**A/N:** 100 words; written for the prompt 'skylines'.

SlugLady28 wanted the list of prompts posted, so here it is:

1) Bull's eye  
2) Ultra Relax  
3) No promises  
4) Cold body  
5) Screw the red roses; send me the thorns  
6) Lady, lady, lady  
7) Flashdance; What a feeling!  
8) Say it LOUD!  
9) Floral scent; Musk; Citric Scent  
10) All for us  
11) Bitter honey; black sugar; sweet chilli  
12) Ice skating  
13) Puppetstrings; hair ribbons  
14) What did you say?  
15) Don't leave it hanging!  
16) Endless  
17) Mischief  
18) Little Prince/Princess  
19) Mirror  
20) Crows; Nightingales  
21) Creating common memories with me; Do I know you?  
22) Cheer up!; Stop crying!  
23) Weak heart  
24) Skylines  
25) Tokyo Babylon  
26) Fairy tales; Beautiful dreamer; Mermaid/Merman  
27) Pride; High and Mighty  
28) Crazy  
29) Still in my lips  
30) Skin deep; Touch me.

**BONUS!**

31) Library; Bookstore  
32) Airhead; Soap Bubbles  
33) Isn't it ironic?; Bitch, PLEASE!  
34) Empty the pocket  
35) Together


	4. No promises

**No promises**

"No promises," she says when they are alone, "I might get a better offer, after all."

But he just smiles, his arms tight around her. "I highly doubt that," he returns confidently, "for none could love you more than I, my lady."

And she has to admit, if only privately, that he is probably right on both counts. But she likes to keep him on his talons so she just smiles coyly and pushes him away, slipping quickly around the bulk of the _Ark_.

She knows he'll come after her. It's what brought them here, together, in the first place.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words, written for the prompt 'No promises'.


	5. Ultra relax

**Ultra Relax**

Primal assigns her quarters but it's almost a formality. (She has very little in the way of belongings; it isn't like she can go back to the Darksyde and demand they hand over her equipment.) He suggests that she can use her room to unwind and it's a nice thought; perhaps she will need it in the future. For now she spends little time in the room set aside for her, even for recharge. Silverbolt's berth is big enough for the both of them.

And his sleepy smile when he sees her upon awakening is all the relaxation she needs.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Ultra Relax'.


	6. Don't leave it hanging!

**Don't leave it hanging!**

It was the smile that doomed him, he decides glumly.

She had gifted him with a smile so dazzling he could only stare, transfixed by her radiant beauty, that he hadn't even noticed the web she spun. And by then it was too late.

"Now be a good boy and stay put. I have business to take care of."

_Oh, my beloved_, he muses as he hangs suspended from the ceiling, alone, _to be so concerned over my well-being; to go so far as to restrain me to keep me from harm! Truly, you are too good for this world._

_

* * *

_**A/N:** 100 words; written for the prompt 'Don't leave it hanging!' This one might end up becoming a longer fic, simply because I enjoy the idea of Silverbolt tied up a little too much :D;;


	7. Mischief

**Mischief**

"Ugh," she staggers a little under his weight as she manoeuvres him in to their quarters. "How much of that stuff did you drink?"

He smiles brightly at her even as he stumbles. "It would have been rude not to join in the festivities," he says, carefully putting one pede in front of the other. "Rattrap even said so."

"I'm sure he did," she mutters. "C'mon, Bowser-boy. Let's get you in to bed." She'd get him in to recharge first. Then she had plotting to do.

The rat was going to pay for making her deal with an overcharged mutt.

* * *

**A/N:** 100 words; written for the prompt 'mischief'.


	8. Isn't it ironic?

**Isn't it ironic?**

He knows that he shouldn't be doing this, here, with her. He is ill-suited to this sneaking around she so enjoys; for him it is the open skies and the light of day in which he is comfortable. Creeping out for a midnight rendezvous, skulking under the cover of darkness while his comrades remain unaware; it seems filthy and craven, as if their love is something to be ashamed of.

But she has asked it, and he is always powerless to deny her.

He finds it ironic that with a single smile, she can seemingly bring his ideals crumbling down.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Isn't it ironic?'.


	9. What did you say?

**What did you say?**

"Forgive me, but could you please say that again?"

She glares at him, but he smiles back, unabashed. "You heard me the first time," she grumbles.

He takes her claw in his. "One could never tire of hearing those words, beloved."

"Well," she says, looking down at their joined hands. He leans forward, eager for her words. Then she looks up, and with a smirk, pushes him in to the river.

"That's what you get for being greedy, Rover," she tells him as he surfaces, sputtering. Then she sashays off, another _I love you_ held firmly behind closed, smiling lips.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'What did you say?'.


	10. Send me the thorns

**Send me the thorns**

"If you're looking for Miss Perfect, you've got the wrong girl," she states bluntly. "I'm not nice or sweet. I'll likely make a horrible girlfriend."

"Dark poison of my heart," he says with a gentle smile, "you have always been – and always will be – the absolute pinnacle of perfection in my optics. I have no need for the fragile lily nor the delicate cherry blossom; you are my rose, and your thorns make you all the more dearer to me, my Spark's delight."

She sighs, but smiles wryly up at him. "You are _such_ a sap," she tells him fondly.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'send me the thorns'.


	11. Still in my lips

**Still in my lips**

It's just a kiss.

It isn't like it really means anything. After all, if he's going to follow her around like a lovesick puppy, she might as well profit from it. If all it takes is a few kisses to keep him at her beck and call, she has plenty more. It's just business, nothing more.

But his taste lingers on her lips; wind and wolf and oil mixing in to something uniquely him. And her lips curve up in remembrance before she realizes it.

She spends the rest of the day attempting to suppress that smile with minimal success.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'still in my lips'.


	12. Empty the pocket

**Empty the pocket**

**

* * *

**

_Come on, let's go on a journey, emptying our pockets. - POKETTO wo Kara ni Shite, sung by Maaya Sakamoto_

**

* * *

**

"We could just leave," she suggests one day. "Just the two of us. We don't need this stupid war. There's an entire world out there to get lost in."

"For you I would fly even to the ends of the universe," he replies. He smiles then, and it's all she can do not to fidget under his knowing gaze. "But I do not think you are really so eager to leave our comrades undefended or our battles unfought."

She sighs and settles back in to the curve of his arm. "I guess," she says. "But it's nice to have options."

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'empty the pocket'.

"Empty the Pocket" is a character song from the anime _Escaflowne_. To 'empty your pockets' in this sense is a metaphor for throwing away your cares and starting fresh. Or, in their case, leaving the war behind and running off in to the sunset. This really doesn't fit either of their characters IMO, but as Blackarachnia says, it's nice to dream ;)


	13. Lady, lady, lady

**Lady, lady, lady**

"_Lady, lady, lady, lady, don't walk this lonely avenue-AROO!_"

"Will someone shut that accursed canine up? Inferno!"

"Yes, Royalty!"

Inferno salutes and marches out of the command room and Blackarachnia snarls. Ignoring the snickering, she quickly accesses the loudspeaker. "Shut _up_, you stupid mutt!"

Silverbolt, locked within the Predacon brig, pauses to smile at the camera. "If my words will reach you, I will serenade you until the stars fall, my lady!"

As he launches in to the next verse, she finds herself hoping in a kind of despairing disgust that the Maximals will arrive soon for the inevitable rescue.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Lady, lady, lady'.

Yeah, um. Well, I had to write crack in to this collection somehow, didn't I? 'Lady, lady, lady' is an actual song, as anyone who's seen _'Flashdance'_ can attest to. It's sung by Joe Esposito and it's really quite pretty (and appropriate).


	14. Creating common memories with me

**Creating common memories with me**

"You don't need to remember Cybertron anyways," she says peremptorily, her back to him as she looks out across the moonlit desert.

"No," he agrees as he joins her, his paw warm on her shoulder. She casts him a curious glance. "Any remembrances of that world would be dull and gloomy without your presence, beloved. The memories we create here, in this time, are worth a thousand of those I might have had in any life before you."

The smile she flashes him is as quick – and as bright – as the brilliant meteors streaking across the night-dark sky above them.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'creating common memories with me'.


	15. Soap bubbles

**Soap Bubbles**

His lady's smiles are beautiful but rare and ephemeral, even now. Oh, her pretty lips will curve upwards in a smirk easily enough, and he likes those, too. She is beautiful no matter what she does, even covered in grime and screaming insults at enemy and ally alike.

But smiles – real smiles, when her entire frame seems to shimmer and glow from within and unadulterated happiness overflows from her spark for a few tantalizing cycles – are as rare as transits of Venus and as fleeting as soap bubbles, and more precious to him than all the Energon in the universe.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'soap bubbles'.

Silverbolt is exaggerating: transits of Venus (when Venus is visible as a shadow crossing the Sun's face as it passes directly between the Earth and Sun) occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years of four transits per cycle.


	16. Nightingales

**Nightingales**

The pale light of the softly smiling moon filters down through dark green leaves, dappling his fur with patches of bright silver among the shadows. He lies in perfect stillness on a carpet of moss with his muzzle resting on his forepaws, his ears pricked and his eyes closed.

Above him the nightingales sing, their voices rising in spark-breaking laments of loneliness and love-lost nights. He wonders if she hears the same songs from within her solitary lair and if she thinks of him, just a little, as the small planet that has brought them together spins quietly towards dawn.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Nightingales'.


	17. Bull's eye

**Bull's Eye**

"Lucky shot," Rattrap says, and before Silverbolt can muster an indignant response, the lady in question turns and fires.

Rattrap ducks, but it isn't _him_ she aims at.

"I guess that's another lucky shot." she replies, sweet as the honey that now coats Rattrap's frame. Rattrap sputters a little through the remains of the beehive that she had so casually shot down to land atop his helm. She cackles, giving Silverbolt a slow wink before sauntering off.

"_Femmes_," Rattrap says in disgust. He waves ineffectively at the angry bees swarming and though Silverbolt suppresses a chuckle, his smile wins through.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Bull's eye'. I like picking on Rattrap.


	18. Weak heart

**Weak Heart**

He stares through the glass at her perfect form hanging limp in her restraints, her optics offlined forever.

He can hear Rhinox behind him moving about but it's distant; his entire focus is her. There is something deeply wrong about her so silent without a trace of her smirk lingering on her lips. She was always so full of life; this unreasonable stillness is offensive to all she has stood for.

He feels something within him break. He never realized his Spark was so fragile, and yet he knows that its light is guttering even as hers did moments before.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Weak heart'. Because apparently we need more angst in a drabble set about smiles. From the episode 'Crossing the Rubicon'.


	19. Beautiful Dreamer

**Beautiful Dreamer**

Sometimes he feels he must be dreaming; something so wonderful cannot possibly be real. She lays alongside him, peaceful in recharge with her legs tangled in his, a faint smile curving her lips and her systems still warm from an extended bout of interfacing. She is Beauty in all Her glory – a goddess encased in mortal form who has descended to Earth and now dreams beside him.

She _is _the dream. Even in sleep she is perfection incarnate.

But deep within his Spark he knows: this is true. This is real. She is here with him and no one else.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Beautiful dreamer'. We now return you to your regularly scheduled over-the-top fluff.


	20. Floral scent

**Floral Scent**

"I had to make an emergency landing," he says sheepishly. "Into a field of rather pungent flowers."

She pulls a green stem out from his wings. "You crashed, you mean."

"I'm not sure I would put it quite like _that_…it was really more of a semi-controlled descent."

"You crashed." There is a definite smirk playing on her lips now and he ducks his head in embarrassment. "Well, it's bath time for you, Rover. That stench is unbelievable."

"I thought I might just allow it to wear off…"

"Bath. _Now_."

"Yes, dear."

"If you're a good boy, I might even help."

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Floral scent'.


	21. Ice skating

**Ice Skating**

Eight legs are not meant for ice. She curses as she slips again on the frozen lake surface. _Damn the Maximals anyways. What's up here other than snow?_

"Might I offer some assistance?"

She looks up with a start of surprise and nearly slips again; he settles on the ice with a careless grace she envies. She starts to refuse on principle, but frag it, she is cold and tired and halfway frozen already. "Why not?"

He lights up with a smile and somehow she finds it hard not to smile back. _The cold must be getting to my processor._

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Ice skating'.


	22. Endless

**Endless**

The snow falls softly, silently; an endless vista of pristine white that lies beyond the little bit of a cave that is carved out of the cliff in which they take shelter. He watches the fat flakes as they drift down with a quiet smile of bemusement. They are alone and far from base with no way of contacting their allies, but for this moment, he can't seem to bring himself to care. The world outside is cold and starting to darken with the coming of night, but her presence beside him is all the warmth he needs right now.

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt 'Endless'. Happy holidays, everyone!


	23. Cheer up!

**Cheer up!**

_'I hate' from hate away she threw,_  
_ And saved my life, saying – 'Not you.'_

_- William Shakespeare, Sonnet 145_

Her frustrated curses fill the small cavern in which they are trapped. "And _you,_" she finally snarls, whirling on him, "stupid, stubborn, overbearing, do-gooder _Maximal_! I really can't _stand_—!"

He can't say anything with his muzzle sealed with her webbing, so he simply stares at her reproachfully, his optics large and mournful. And despite the steel she has formed around her Spark, she feels herself capitulating. "Oh, fine. I don't _not_ like you," she admits grudgingly. "Don't let it go to your processor," she adds hastily, but the damage has already been done; his optics brighten with his smile.

* * *

**A/N:** 100 words; written for the prompt 'Cheer up!'


	24. Say it LOUD!

**Say it LOUD!**

"He's _mine_!"

She pauses, as if realizing what she has loudly stated, and the room immediately goes silent in anticipation. Finally, her optics narrow and she favours them all with a venomous glance. "Do I make myself clear?" she asks.

"You certainly do," Optimus replies. Everyone else nods hastily.

"See that you remember it," she says, all offended dignity, and sweeps out of the room.

Silverbolt stares wide-opticked after her. "I love that spider," he says to no one in particular, a besotted smile spreading across his muzzle. Cheetor snickers and Rattrap groans theatrically, muttering something about fools and love.


	25. Little Princess

**Little Princess**

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who had taken up with a band of thieves and lived with them deep within their evil lair.

This is not, Silverbolt knows, how the story usually goes. Fairy tales are rather narrow-minded, with their pure smiling princesses locked away from the world high in their ivory towers. His lady is not the typical Lady Fair, but she is his and he loves her, perhaps because of this.

But maybe, if he is very lucky and very good, she might allow him to carry her off into the sunset one day.


	26. Pride

**Pride**

She has always been proud.

Really, what's _not_ to be proud of? She's strong and beautiful and self-sufficient. Anyone with any kind of processing power would want to be her.

But this..._thing_...with Silverbolt...it's changing her. She finds herself not only thinking of herself, but of him, too. It's as vexing as it is fascinating. Everyone else can see it, too. The grins are hidden and the snickers muffled but she knows they're laughing at her. But that's all right; she knows where they sleep, after all.

She is proud, this is true; but now she is proud of him, too.


	27. What a Feeling!

**What a Feeling!**

_Hear my soul speak.  
Of the very instant that I saw you,  
Did my heart fly at your service._

_- The Tempest - Act 3, Scene _1

* * *

Optimus had warned him of the spiders.

But when he finally lays eyes upon Blackarachnia, lying wide-eyed in the dirt, he feels his resolve crumble; who is he to harm such a beautiful creature as she? Even grime and damage cannot hide the fierce splendour of her frame. And so, he speaks of his unwillingness to harm a female, and instead does battle against the Fuzor, thereby gaining blessed release in combat from such traitorous thoughts.

For even knowing her to be an enemy, he still cannot stifle the quickening in his spark at the fleeting quirk of her smile.


	28. All for Us

**_All for Us_**

_"It involved a 50 foot tarp, 50 gallons of Mazola oil and a live Turkish goat; that's all I can say." _Scott McNeil, Auto Assembly 2010, on a love letter from Silverbolt to Blackarachnia.

* * *

"Did you steal it from Grapeface's private supply?" There hadn't been this much high-quality oil at the Maximal base.

"Liberated," The offended dignity in his tone is belied by his sparkling optics. "...Cheetor helped," he allows.

"_Did_ he now..." Blackarachnia begins with an arch smile.

Silverbolt holds her tighter. "I don't want to talk about Cheetor."

Blackarachnia laughs. "And the goat?"

The goat in question chews happily at the edge of the tarp spread across the grass. Silverbolt groans. "It won't go away!"

A bolt from her crossbow has the goat bounding away, bleating. "Now," Blackarachnia purrs, "about that oil..."

* * *

**A/N: **100 words; written for the prompt "All for us." I found a clip on Youtube from Auto Assembly 2010 in which Scott McNeil, VA for Silverbolt (among many others) was requested to perform a love letter that Silverbolt had written to Blackarachnia. It had many recitations of "Dark poison of my heart" and then he explained that Silverbolt was a pervert and it got rather dirty, ending with "a 50 foot tarp, 50 gallons of Mazola oil and a live Turkish goat." I really couldn't resist.


End file.
